French Girls Reveal Their Summer Beauty Secrets

The consensus: lots of sunscreen

By Andrea Cheng

That French girl look—you know, the women who embody that certain je ne sais quoi—has been examined, dissected, and written about over and over. And while one can only hope to attain the same level of effortlessness, the answer to finally securing that elusive appeal might actually lie in their beauty routines―a regimen made even more important during the summer, what with the sun wreaking havoc on your skin and all.

We turned to three of our go-to French girls (aka some of the chicest women we know)—Cindy Bruna, Michaëla Thomsen, and Louise Follain—to reveal their beauty secrets that keep them looking fresh all season long.

Cindy Bruna

Image from Instagram

“Be sure to always protect your skin with enough sunscreen. Make it your most important summer habit for whenever you leave the house for a long period of time. For humidity, I always make sure I cool down my skin with cold water before I apply anything else, like cleansers and toners. This way there won’t be unwanted residue or reactions from my skin being too heated.”

Michaëla Thomsen

Image from Instagram

“I have a beauty product that I use every summer: a shampoo from Opalis with orange blossom—it smells divine. For after sun cream, I use one from Guerlain that has a beautiful scent, so there’s no need to wear perfume. I use the same skincare routine that my mum taught me, and she has beautiful skin: I wash my face every morning with freezing water for one minute, apply a Q10 serum, massage with a good moisturiser for at least one minute, and apply sunscreen (I use Avene SPF50+ in the summer). Don’t forget to drink water and always properly clean your face before going to sleep.”

Louise Follain

Image from Instagram

“I have to be really careful with my skin in the summer because I have vitiligo (some parts of my skin are very white), so it’s super sensitive to the sun. I have it on my eyelids, for example, so I use a sunblock stick with SPF50+ from La Roche Posay on those specific spots. Otherwise, I always use sunblock with SPF50 at the beginning of summer, then decrease it to SPF30. I also always hydrate my skin after it’s exposed to the sun. My ultimate favourite product is L’huile Prodigieuse de Nuxe. I think if I had to pick one smell for summer it would be this one.”